The present invention relates generally to a breast milk absorbent pad adapted to be put on a wearer's skin so as to be covered with the other wearing article such as a brassiere.
Various types of a breast milk absorbent pad have conventionally been proposed and an example thereof preliminarily comprises a body fluid absorbent assembly, a liquid-barrier material facing away from a wearer's skin and an inner surface material facing the wearer's skin wherein the pad is provided along transversely opposite edges thereof with elastically stretchable and contractible members serving to deform the pad in a dome shape. Such dome shape permits the pad to be put on the wearer's breast with a good fit to avoid troubles such that the pad might slip down and breast milk might leak beyond a peripheral edge of the pad.
Such type of breast milk absorbent pad is well known, for example, from disclosures of Japanese Unexamined Patent application Publication No. 2000-178805 (hereinafter referred to as “Reference 1”) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-11705 (hereinafter referred to as “Reference 2”). The breast milk absorbent pad disclosed therein generally comprises a pad-chassis composed of a liquid absorbent assembly and a liquid-barrier material fixed to the outer side of the absorbent assembly, and elastically stretchable and contractible members provided along transversely opposite edges of the pad-chassis so that a contractile force of these elastically stretchable and contractible members may deform the pad as a whole in a dome shape.
Usually, the breast milk absorbent pad may be inserted between the wearer's skin and the associated brassiere which has been spaced apart from the wearer's skin in order to wear the pad and the breast milk absorbent pad may be slipped down but not taken off in order to breast-feed a baby. In these cases, the type of breast milk absorbent pad as disclosed in References 1 and 2 may have the upper end of the pad unintentionally folded inward under the contractile force of the elastically stretchable and contractible members provided along the transversely opposite edges thereof. If it is intended to insert the breast milk absorbent pad having the upper end or the lower end folded inward between the brassiere and the wearer's skin from above or beneath, the folded upper or lower end may catch on the wearer's skin or the inner side of the brassiere and further folded inward or outward. Thus the breast milk absorbent pad as a whole may sometimes be folded inward or outward and it may be impossible to wear the breast milk absorbent pad. If it is intended to wear the breast milk absorbent pad folded in this manner, not only the pad will create a feeling of discomfort against the wearer's skin but also an effective area for absorption will be unacceptably reduced due to the liquid-barrier material folded inward or outward with respect to the pad, possibly resulting in leak of breast milk.
In addition, if the breast milk absorbent pad fastened to the brassier at a center thereof is slipped down in order to breast-feed her baby, the upper and lower ends of the breast milk absorbent pad already in a folded state will be further folded inward with respect to the breast milk absorbent pad under the contractile force of the elastically stretchable and contractible members. When the brassiere is repositioned after her baby has been breast-fed, the wearer must properly unfold the pad.